Helping the Homeless

To the Editor: 
I have been experiencing what it is like to be homeless over the last three weeks.
I volunteer for Cape Hope, an organization that helps the homeless in Cape May County. I have been shadowing a homeless man in his efforts to get shelter and assistance and I am totally frustrated by all the road blocks that we have encountered.
To get the emergency assistance he needs an eviction letter. The people he was staying with took his money, they still have his personal belongings, and they are not answering their phone. He needs a cell phone. Try to get one with no money. He applied for the free phones offered at Social Services. Since he has no permanent address the phone was sent to the Branches in Rio Grande. The Branches is a blessing for the homeless, and they allow them to get their mail sent there. The phone never made it, and it was sent somewhere else. So now he has to go through weeks of waiting and reapplying.
He has to close any bank accounts he has had, but he has to have one to deposit his meager SSD check.
He has to report to One-Stop in Wildwood for job training or he will be ineligible for financial help.
He has no transportation. We applied for Fare Free. They said they could not pick him up without a physical address. They said they will not pick him up at the Branches.
Every step we have taken to get him shelter and some money to exist on has been met with negative outcomes. I have not even addressed the housing problem. There isn’t any housing. Families and homeless individuals are living at area motels because there are no places for them to live. The $60-$70 a day for just a room ends up being an expensive solution that most people can’t do for long.
I don’t have the solutions. Cape Hope is working toward providing housing, but this is an expensive proposition that will take time. I don’t know what to tell this man. I am surprised he is still trying to comply with all that is asked of him. I think I would have given up long ago. I do know that some of the rules, requirements, and mandates need to be looked at and changed if we really are going to solve the problem of homelessness in our county. Cape Hope welcomes anyone who wants to join our cause.
I did send an email to Freeholder Director Gerald Thornton April 27. Fare Free contacted me April 28 and said they will pick up anyone who needs transportation at the Branches and at Social Services. Thank you, Thornton and Freeholder Marie Hayes.